The Trouble of Water and Fire
by Amelia Bell
Summary: Kya is-was- a servant at the Fire Lord's Place before she was accused of being a thief and other things. Most of the accused is true, but she is not a thief. Story begins with her getting captured and sent to the newly banished Prince Zuko. The third 'chapter' will be the actual first episode (chapter) of this story. OC/Zuko pairing.


**Hey! My new story! Please review and tell me what you think. I actually began working on it a few years ago and I just now found it in a pile of papers on my desk. So here is the tweaked version of it because I had A LOT of grammar mistakes. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

**Two years before Avatar Aang is found**

A soft breeze blew my pitch black hair into my face and I couldn't see anything. I tried to move my hair out of my face with my hands but I remembered they were tied together. The rope that tied them together was also connected to the ones that tied my feet together.

So I just turned my head to face the breeze instead. Looking to the right, I saw the beautiful, calm ocean. Somewhere, out there, people were free to bend. It didn't matter if it was air, water, earth, or fire. When I was finally free, it was going to be water and fire.

"You, prisoner, stop moving, and look forward when someone is talking to you." The soldier on my left grabbed my head and forcefully made me look at the Fire Nation captain in front of me. I glared at both of the men and spat at their feet. My capturer nodded to the guard and they punched me in the stomach.

I gasped and bent over as much as I could. The captain then walked closer to me and punched me in the jaw. I unwillingly cried out, tears forming quickly in my eyes. My hair fell into my face and he moved it out of the way.

"You will respect your nation's navy. You are a traitor to your nation. We are acting out the Fire Lord's will. All traitors are to be sent to prison." The ape-faced captain told me harshly. At the Fire Lord's name, I spat again, this time with a little blood mixed with it.

He shook his head and punched me again in the stomach. I groaned and I barely heard him tell the soldier holding me to take me to the ship. I heard the words 'Fire Nation Capital' and my whole body froze. I didn't breathe or blink at all.

I had known that I was a wanted person, but I had thought I would go to a prison in the Earth Kingdom or even the Boiling Rock. Heck, I rather go to the Boiling Rock instead of the Capital.

When the soldiers that were carrying me finally reached the humongous ship, I had come to the realization that I was going to be tortured and killed when we reached the Fire Nation. I would most likely be killed by the Fire Lord himself; if not then tortured by him.

"Here," the soldier handed me off to another person, "take this thing to the prison hold. Captain Zhao wants it to have complete solitary the whole ride to the Capital. That means no late night visits."

The soldier grunted and took me by the chain linking my hands to my feet. He started to drag me down the confusing hallways and five minutes later we had reached a gray door. The man opened the door and led me to a cell in the far corner. He opened the door and shoved me into the cell. It was claustrophobically small and it didn't even have a window.

He shut the door and glanced at me curiously through hole that the food was supposed to be shoved through. I glared right back at him and he asked me, "What did you do to get here? You're just a teenage girl."

I snarled and accurately spat at him. The glob of spit landed on his cheek, right below his left eye. He shut the window with a string of curse words and insults. Even though no one could see me, I smiled evilly at the metal door.

It faded soon when I glanced around the cell. It contained a toilet and a mat. There was a sound of dripping water and the faint smell of mold. I groaned; it was going to be a long four months.

…

**Four Months Later. **

We had finally arrived in the Fire Nation Capital. Today was my last day on this horrible ship; today was the day my nightmares truly began. The only reason I knew that was because the soldier from my first day, the one that I spat on, told me. He had told me yesterday when he gave me my meager dinner that I would be leaving the ship today.

When I heard the locks on my door open, I glanced up from where I was sitting in the corner. I had just finished my morning exercise and was trying to take a nap. Ape-Faced Captain Zhao stalked into my cell and smirked evilly at me. I glared at him and spat at him while he said, "Four Months in solitary has done nothing to you, traitor, except made you look like a twig. So guess what today is. It is your death day. Are you ready to go back to your old work place, to die by the hands of your old employer?" He snapped his fingers and two guards walked in.

They went on either side of me and grabbed my forearms pulling me to my feet. They dragged me out of the cell and I risked a glance behind me. I would miss that cell, and compared to where I was headed to now, it was a small piece of heaven.

The guards followed Ape-Faced out of the ship and I was shoved into a line, behind other broken prisoners. They were all tall buff men, making me feel small behind them. We were tied together and forced to wall down the streets. People were jeering at us from the sides of the streets and I realized that we were in the middle of a parade, celebrating the capture of us prisoners.

The prisoners in front of me had their heads down, staring at the ground. I, however, stared right back at the crowd and glared at them. They all stared and pointed at me in surprise. They were seeing a thirteen year old Fire Nation girl with ice-blue eyes look defiantly back at them, while all the tough looking men ahead of her had their heads down.

We continued down the street and I kept my eyes on the people of the Fire Nation Capital. By the time we arrived at the palace, my feet were killing me from walking at least three miles. The palace was just as I remembered it, huge and red. Only this time, it had the sense of haunting to it, along with power.

The prisons were each given a cell to themselves and they looked exactly like the ones on the ship. Not even an hour later, a group of guards were sent to get me from my cell. They tied me up again, though in chains this time.

I was surrounded by mean looking soldiers and I could feel there stares on my back. We walked into the halls and I tried not to think about what was going to happen. However, my brain was defying me and thinking about torture and being killed by the most horrible man alive. It was also thinking of a way to escape, although most of the plans involve me showing them that I could bend fire and water. That was not a possibility. I spent all my life hiding my bending from the outside world, with the exception of the Rings; a place where people were free to fight with their element, no matter which of the four it was: water, fire, earth, and even a hundred years ago-air.

We arrived at a curtain wall and I stopped to take a breath, to prepare myself for what was to come. My whole body was shaking with fear and anxiety, but I remained strong and kept my head up. One of the guards shoved me from behind and said to move.

I regained my balance with grace, which was hard to do in chains. The very first guard moved the curtain out of the way and I walked forward, head held straight. We walked forward, into a big room with wall of fire in front of me. There was something or someone behind the tall orange flames because there was a dark shadow behind them.

The flames parted in front of the shadow and a man walked down the steps that were hidden by the flame a few minutes before. All of the soldiers that arrived with me bowed down low and I easily recognized the man walking down the steps as Fire Lord Ozai. He was tall and pale, wearing long red robes. He walked closer nodded for the men to stand; they did.

"Bow to me, traitor." The Fire Lord said, sneering. My old boss had cruel golden eyes that gave me the chills, but I stood defiantly in front of him, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"No." I told him. When my voice came out, it was surprising calm and level, unlike what I was feeling inside.

The evil man laughed and the flames behind him got a few degrees hotter, and a few inches higher. "I like your spirit, girl. If you were not a traitor, I would have introduced you to my daughter. I think you would get along just fine with Azula."

"I met her before. I do not like her. She does not like me. I don't like any of the royal family. You are cruel people." I was lying smoothly at the last part. I actually liked Lady Ursa and the great General Iroh. They were both sweet people and were always kind to me. The Fire Lord's other child, Prince Zuko, was an accomplice, not completely friends, but not really enemies.

The Fire Lord raised his eyebrows and asked with fake curiosity, "You have met my family? And do not like them?"

"I used to be a servant here when my father abandoned me because I am a non-bender. I had worked here for three years." I said coldly, glaring at the Fire Lord.

He frowned and said, "I didn't know that." I snorted and spat at his feet, landing on his shoes. A guard on the side of me punched me in the gut and gasped, bending over slightly. "Bow, peasant."

"No, I will never bow to you." I said and a guard pulled on the chains that connected my hands to my feet. My body was pulled into a bowing position and I stared at the Fire Lord. He grinned at me evilly.

"Oh I think you will. You see, you are in the Fire Nation, in the presence of me, the Fire Lord. Now, let's get down to business." He snapped his fingers and a man rushed into the room, holding a scroll. "This is your wanted poster. Let's find out what you are wanted for. Read."

The fat man opened the scroll and began to read, "Kya. No last name. Age: Thirteen. Non-bender. Wanted for: telling secrets of the Fire Nation Army to the Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe, talking badly to high ranking officers in the Fire Nation Army and Navy, and stealing from the Royal Family. Warning: trained in swordsmanship, archery, and hand to hand combat."

The fat man rushed to the side of the room and Fire Lord Ozai said, "Well you are a very talented young girl. Swordsmanship, archery and combat. Not only, I heard that you are trained in thievery, too? Now, everyone, out."

People I didn't even know where there came out of the shadows and walked out of the room. When it was only just me and him in the room, he looked at me and made a fire whip. He whipped onto the ground and made a sizzling noise. Ozai walked over to me and made the whip go around my leg.

I screamed and smelled burning flesh. The pain was overcoming. The Fire Lord laughed and black started to crawl into my vision. The fire disappeared from my leg and Ozai lifted his hand up, lighting it on fire. He punched me in the stomach and I felt the fire through my shirt burn me. I whimpered and the black enclosed my vision. The last thing I heard was him laughing.

When I woke up next, I was back in my cell. The pain in my stomach and leg was almost unbearable. I tried to move from my uncomfortable position but my burns were too painful. So I just glanced around my cell and spotted a bowl of water and nasty looking gruel by my cell door. Dragging my aching body to the door, I drank the water and it felt good on my dry lips. I took the rest of the little drops of water I couldn't get and water bended it out, using just my hands. I moved the tiny amount of water to my stomach and held there while I lifted up my shirt.

The burn was horrible. It stunk and there were bad blisters on it. I hurriedly waterbended the water on to my burn and tried to heal it. The pain lessened and the blisters faded a little. When the burn was as healed as it could be, I waterbended what was left of the water to my leg. I sat up a little to see my leg, winching because of my stomach.

My black slacks I had on were burned through and I could see the coiling burn on my leg. It looked like a thin snake had wound itself around my leg, all the way up to my thigh, and was lit itself on fire. I took the water and healed my leg until I was too tired to move anymore. I left the water fall onto my leg. Lying back down, I relaxed and fell asleep on the hard cold floor.

The next time I awoke, a soldier was pulling me up and clamping chains on my wrist and ankles. I whimpered a little and tried to stand on my wobbly legs. My burned leg surprisingly held my weight, although, I had put more of my weight on my other one.

The soldier pulled on my chains and I stumbled, falling to the ground. I screamed in pain and the soldier yelled at me to shut up. He pulled me up and dragged me through the hallways of my prison. We stopped at the room from before and by that time I was panting heavily and tears were falling from my eyes.

Entering the room of the evilest man alive I shivered and prepared for the worst. I knew that more torture was to come to me. Fire Lord Ozai told me to bow, like before and I refused again. Although I knew it was going to make my situation much worse, I was proud of myself for not giving in.

Ozai walked down the steps and I shivered, looking at the evil man. He glared down at me and nodded at the soldier. He left without a word and I suddenly felt like I was about to die.

The Fire Lord grabbed my greasy black hair and pulled it down, so I was forced to look up to him. I flinched when he did that and dug my nails into my palms. "You are lucky I am such a generous man. I am going to propose a deal with you, peasant. Today I banished my son, Zuko. You remember him, right? That weakling of a boy spoke out at a war meeting and disrespected me. He was weak and tried to beg for my forgiveness at the Agni Kai but I gave him a punishment he will never forget. He will be reminded of my disappointment in him every time he looks in the mirror. My son cannot return from his banishment until he either captures or kills the Avatar. Now my tea-loving brother has requested that I at least give him a ship and some crew. You will be part of that crew. If you are not then you will be tortured until the day you die. Choose wisely."

At that he lets go of my hair and I ask him, "Why?"

"I have more important prisoners to keep here and where else would I put a traitor like you? You will be with other traitors on a ship that is forbidden to come back into the Fire Nation." He tells me. "Although, I do have one more job for you if you do go. Make sure that son of mine never finds the Avatar, even though the Avatar is never going to be found."

"I'll do it." I said to him. I had nothing to lose, really. I had no friends or family here that I cared for. Plus, I'll get to travel the world like I had always wanted.

I was brought to my cell after that and a day later, I think, I awoke to being dragged onto a Fire Nation ship. Two soldiers forced me to bow when we got onto the deck. I growled and forced my head up to look at the two men ahead of me. I recognized both of them as the Great General Iroh, who I bowed my head respectively to, and the Fire Lord's son Prince Zuko, who I glared right back at. I realized then what the Fire Lord meant when he said that Zuko would remember his disappointment every time he looked in the mirror. There was a big bandage on his left eye and I realized that the Fire Lord had burned his own son.

Zuko glared down at me and I knew he didn't remember me from all the times I helped him out with his bending and schoolwork. Although, I had grown up a bit in my few years away from the Capital and I almost didn't recognize Zuko, either.

"Kya, it's great to see you again. How has life been, young one?" General Iroh asked me politely. I released my scowl and looked over at the kind, old man.

I guess my face showed surprise that he remembered my name because he laughed softly and nodded for the soldiers that were still holding me to let go. I wobbled as I stood up straight, trying not to let sounds of pain come out. Even though I had been trying to heal the burns with the little water I had, they were still open and fresh. "Well," my voice was cracked and weak, so I cleared my throat, "General Iroh, to be honest, life could have been a little kinder to me but it's great to see you, too. I never thought I would see you again in this life time." I gave a small smile to the man to show that I was holding up to my hard life.

The general laughed softly and walked over to me. He scanned me up and down, frowning at the burns. Waving at one of the other crew members, my fellow White Lotus member told him to help me to my room and to get the medic.

"No I'm fine. All I need is bowl of cold water and bandages and I will be fine. I don't need the medic, but I wouldn't mind a nice long chat with you, General." I say to Iroh and the soldier.

Iroh gives me a look, but agrees, knowing that nothing he said would change my mind. A soldier that dragged me onto the ship handed the Great General the key to my chains and then walked of the ship with his partner.

The higher ranking member of the White Lotus unlocked my chains and I almost fell at the amount of weight that left my arms and ankles. He motioned at the crew member he waved over to help me walk.

"Where to, sir?" The crew member asked. Iroh answered but I wasn't paying attention to them. I was paying attention to the teenaged prince who had smoke coming out of his ears. I knew he was about to explode with rage and I didn't want to be surprised by it.

I slowly counted down from three in my head, each step across the ship deck a number. _Three. _Step. _Two. _Step. _One. _Halfway through the third step, Prince Zuko exploded. It was just how I remembered his temper tantrums when we were little kids. That's how I knew when it was going to happen. It always started with the smoke coming out of the ears, next was the flames on his hands, and three seconds after the bomb exploded.

"Uncle! Who is she? How do you know her? I thought she was a traitor." The banished prince ranted and it put a smirk on my face, despite the pain.

"Prince Zuko, you don't remember her? She is you're old friend, Kya, and a falsely accused person." The kind general explained to Zuko.

"Hi, Zuzu. How have you been?" I said, and looked in his general direction. He stared at me with his one good eye and I saw a spark if recognition in it; then it was gone.

My old friend shook his head and his eyes flickered down my body to my burns, which were now bleeding. "Whatever; just take her. I can't have an injured crew member. Make sure it doesn't get infected because then she would be filling up a space for a more _capable _crew." I glared at Zuko as General Iroh nodded his head and helped me walk to where he was taking me.

We got to the room and Iroh immediately ushered the soldier out. There was a bowl of water on a big desk. The old man helped me over and then checked to make sure was eavesdropping on us. When he looked at me and nodded, I lifted my hands and the water followed the movement. The liquid flowed out of the bowl and floated to my stomach.

As soon as it made contact, I sighed in relief. The cool water began to glow lightly because I was still weak, but was steadily getting brighter every second. About five minutes later my stomach was healed and there was a scar there. I looked at it for a while before getting fresh water from the bowl and moved it to my leg. It began to heal and I put the water back when I was done.

Pushing off the chair, I tested out some stretches and winced at the soreness of my muscles in my leg and stomach; other than that I was fine. I looked at the Great Dragon of the West and ran to him, giving him the biggest hug ever.

Iroh chuckled and rubbed my back, "Great to know that you're feeling better. Would you like some tea, Kya?"

**So that wasn't chapter one yet but my third update will be. I forgot what they called this part.. I know it is something like 'Pro-' and that's it. Well, anyways. THANKS for reading! Please leave a review because I want to know if this story is good enough to continue before I update the next part. Have a good day or night. Bye! **


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